Contract covering 39,000 workers across nine states expires at end of Saturday Most Verizon workers have reportedly agreed to a possible strike Verizon workers in nine states could walk off the job as soon as early as Sunday, if union negotiators do not reach an agreement over benefits with the wireless carrier. A contract covering [...]

Economists see first default in territory’s history but officials disagree Government fears key fund could run out of liquidity by November Puerto Rico’s government said on Friday it would not make a $58m bond payment due on the weekend and warned that the general fund would run out of liquidity by November if no action [...]

Little interest in showrooms as deep discounts fail to drive in customers Business appears to be slow at the Mercedes-Benz showroom in the Jing’an district of Shanghai. There are no customers and the staff look bored. A family comes in to look at the cars but appears to have no intention of buying. A salesperson [...]

Disastrous losses on the Shanghai exchange are leading to concern that the era of runaway Chinese growth is faltering at a critical time in the world economy Recent events in Shanghai’s stock markets have been all too reminiscent of the tales that have entered American folk memory from the days of the Wall Street crash [...]

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal the tech giant created Google Auto LLC to help develop its self-driving cars even as it courted big car makers Google has set up its own car company. The tech giant has flirted with major car firms as it explores driverless cars but has also quietly set up its [...]

The latest survey of the huge factory sector shows only very sluggish growth, fuelling expectations of more government stimulus Growth at China’s big manufacturers unexpectedly stalled in July as demand at home and abroad weakened, an official survey showed on Saturday, reinforcing views that the economy needs more stimulus as it faces fresh risks from [...]

The trade minister, Andrew Robb, says 98% of agreement is finalised but the difficulties lie with the big four economies of US Canada, Japan and Mexico The world’s biggest regional trade deal – Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – is still within reach despite Australia walking away empty-handed from the latest talks, the federal government says. The [...]

Beast, a puli, is the newest internet celebrity thanks to his moppy hair and unusual heritage When Priscilla Chan and her husband, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced they are expecting a baby girl, the internet showered them with praise. At last count, nearly 800,000 people had liked the Facebook announcement in which they shared the [...]

Eight donors whose family wealth is based in finance gave $4.8m of $15.6m raised in 2015 but media figures like Steven Spielberg are second-biggest group A third of Hillary Clinton’s top backers made their money from the financial services industry, according to Guardian analysis of new campaign finance disclosures released on Friday. Related: Hillary Clinton [...]

Almost 23,000 employees to benefit from 3 to 5-year saving scheme allowing staff to buy shares at old prices More than 23,000 BT staff are to profit from a £265m employee share scheme at the company, with some employees set to make more than £50,000 each. The staff saved between £5 and £250 a month [...]